The only similarity between Kindersley Saskatchewan and Kelowna British Columbia is that they both start with a “K”.
Meet Forrest “Bush” Halpenny, retired cop. He’s been around
cars his whole life. His parents were partners in a Volkswagen and Rambler
dealership back in Saskatchewan. His first car was a ‘56 Chevy, 2 door post,
but he always wanted a Mustang.
The search began in 2000
His policing career had taken Bush and his family to the
Vancouver area. He had planned retirement for 2002 so figured he’d have the
time to tinker with a toy car. In November of 2002, he found the ’68 2 +2
Fastback in Abbotsford, a 289 V8 with automatic transmission.
It had been restored in the early 80’s
It was exactly what he’d been looking for. The Mustang had the
usual squeaks and oil leaks. Bush did what he could on his own with help and
advice from members of the Greater Vancouver Mustang Association.
In 2003, he was at a car show at the Mission Raceway and
was approached by a guy who said the car was his. Bush asked him how he knew that.
The guy said when he originally restored the car in the early ‘80’s, he had
welded the top shock bracket but had not smoothed it by grinding. They checked
and sure enough it was his old car. It came from the Ford factory in San Jose
California, painted Wimbledon White, not the black beauty you see today.
The guy was able to provide a photo of the car as he found it in a back alley in Vancouver. The car had been completely taken apart and repaired like only the owner of a body shop could do.
Destination Kelowna
In 2005, Bush and his wife Gladys moved to the Okanagan where they met
Mark and Carol Oakley and formed the Okanagan Mustangs and Fords Association.
In 2009, the ‘68 was taken to Randy MacMurphy, owner of MACAW Autobody in Kelowna for a repaint. There the car was stripped to the metal. Any remaining body work was done and the black paint you see today was applied.
Gladys Halpenny calls the car the “chick magnet”. Good luck with that Bush!
